MacWhirter has proved to be among the most astute political observers in Scotland. But in the blog below he has managed to cut through party spin to articulate the real currents driving Scottish politics in a way that unionist parties and the media have failed to grasp, let alone deal with.

Spare a thought this weekend for the Labour MP for Glasgow North East, Willie Bain. Opinion polls had suggested that he might be the only Labour MP left in Scotland. It could have made him a shoe-in for Scottish Secretary.

Then on Wednesday, disaster struck. A poll from Ipsos Mori suggested that the SNP would take every seat in Scotland. Poor Willie Bain’s brilliant career was cut tragically short.

Of course, no one believes these polls. I can’t see the SNP winning every seat in Scotland. Even after landslides on Everest some people are left standing and I fully expect that on Friday morning there will still be a number of Labour MPs boasting that they survived the Nat-quake.

But no one can be in any doubt that a fundamental change has taken place in the fabric of Scottish politics. It seems almost unbelievable that only five years ago, Labour…